Rev Michael Jaglowicz

1872 - 1943  (71 years)

• Name	Michael Jaglowicz
  Prefix	Rev
  Born	18 Aug 1872	Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada   [1, 2]
  Gender	Male
  FindAGrave	https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/26701807
  Name	Michael Jaglowitz
  Residence	1881	Preston (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada   [1]
  Occupation	1891	Hespeler (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada   [2]
  	Student
  Residence	1891	Hespeler (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada   [2]
  	Roman Catholic
  Eby ID Number	Waterloo-129380
  Died	10 Nov 1943	Lebanon, Marion, Kentucky, United States
  Buried	Saint Charles Cemetery, Saint Mary, Marion, Kentucky, United States
  Person ID	I129380	Generations
  Last Modified	3 Mar 2025

  
  

  Father	Michael Jaglowicz,   b. 24 Aug 1834, , Germany ,   d. 5 Jun 1891, Hespeler (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada  (Age 56 years)
  Mother	Rosina "Rosa" "Rosalie" Lashewske,   b. 18 Aug 1835, , Poland ,   d. 23 May 1913, Preston (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada  (Age 77 years)
  Family ID	F31925	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Photos

  Jaglowicz-Michael-001.jpg Very Rev Michael Jaglowicz

  
  

• Notes

  On the occasion of Rev Father Jaglowitz's 26th anniversary of his birth, and also his safe return from Rome, a pleasant and enjoyable social affair was given to a number of old friends by Mrs Jaglowitz at her residence, Queen street, Hespeler, on Wednesday, Aug. 18th. It was a very successful affair, as all who were present will testify. Among those present was Rev Father Perius, a college chum of Father Jaglowitz at Rome. The Weekly News-Record, Berlin, Ontario Thu, Aug 26, 1897 Page 3 ____________ Jaglowicz, Michael. Born on a farm near Preston (Cambridge) Ontario on 18 August, 1872, the son of Michael and Rose Laszewski, Michael's elementary education was at the Preston Public Schools prior to his entering St. Jerome's College in Berlin in 1886. Only fourteen when he entered the college Michael suffered from homesickness and actually ran away after a few days. Returned by his father, Michael settled in to become not only a gifted scholar but a sportsman of some prowess. Consistently at top of his classes in English grammar and literature, History, Latin, French and Arithmetic and when he graduated in June, 1891 he received gold medals for excellence in Universal History and General Proficiency. Active in all sports he was perhaps best known for his prowess in soccer becoming captain of the Berlin Ranger Championship Soccer Club of Canada and receiving several gold medals including one presented to him by the Canadian Football Association. Credited with being one of the finest soccer players in Canada he was invited to tour Europe with the Berlin Rangers of which he was then captain but by that time he had decided to study for the priesthood and decided against any further formal participation in the sport. In October, 1891, he entered the Congregation and left for Rome where he pronounced first vows on 1 November, 1892, and, after studying philosophy and theology at the Gregorian University, was ordained on 30 May, 1896. The following year he was assigned to St. Mary's College in Kentucky to teach Latin, Greek and Higher Religious Instruction and Modern Languages; he was also disciplinarian until 1899 when he was appointed vice-president. Two years later, at the age of 29, he was appointed president, a position he would hold for the next 26 years, longer than any other Resurrectionist in the history of St. Mary's. Charming, entertaining, and possessing a great sense of humour, Michael was also known to be a strict disciplinarian, a reputation that encouraged many Protestant fathers to send their sons to St. Mary's. During his years at St. Mary's he soon made a name for himself and was known by all, farmer, civil servant, trades-person and clergyman, both Catholic and Protestant. In 1926 Michael was elected as second general councillor at the 18th general chapter. He, himself, was not there and so did not know that at the sixth session of that chapter the decision had been taken to close and sell St. Mary's. Michael asked to remain at St. Mary's to negotiate its sale and prepare for its closure in 1927. Although he did acknowledge a debt of some $93,000.00, Michael considered the decision a serious mistake and was upset that he had not been consulted. Whether or not he ever seriously intended to sell and close St. Mary's, in the end Michael was able to use his influence as a general councillor to convince the newly elect Superior General, Fr. James Jagalla, to rescind the decision. That accomplished he left for Rome in September/October, 1927. One year later the Resurrectionists in Kentucky were overjoyed to hear that the man who had been St. Mary's President for so many years and during some trying times had been appointed Delegate General for North America. By 1931 Jagalla's health had so deteriorated that he was unable to make his official visit to North America so he appointed Fr. Jaglowicz, his delegate then living in Chicago to make the official visitation. Already aware of some growing nationalism among the Canadians and dissension among the C.R.s in Kentucky, some of whom argued for union with Chicago, Michael was able to convince the St. Mary's Resurrectionists to remain under "Canadian" jurisdiction and when, in 1932, a separate "Canadian" delegature was formed they did so. Michael can be credited with being one of the creators of the Ontario-Kentucky Province although he would not live to see this come to fruition. Completing his visitation Michael returned to Rome in 1932 in anticipation of the General Chapter to be held that year. The leading candidate to succeed the ailing Jagalla he was agreeable to the council fathers not only because he was an excellent linguist, fluent in Polish and comfortable in German and Italian, but also because he was of Polish descent and, although Canadian-born, devoted to his ancestral homeland. On 26 May, 1932, Fr. Michael Jaglowicz became the first Canadian, in fact, the first non-Pole to become Superior General, elected on the second ballot. Six years later he was re-elected and, although suffering from arthritis, decided it was time to make an official visit to North America. He departed in 1939, prior to the outbreak of war in September, and when Italy entered the war on side of Germany in June, 1940, Michael was unable to return to Rome. He decided to take up residence at St. Mary's College which he always considered his real home and continued to act as Superior General. But his health continued to deteriorate. He was hospitalized several times. In 1941 he underwent a major operation to remove part of his stomach and his life hung in the balance. He recovered, however, and continued to receive visitors at St. Mary's for almost a year before submitting to a second operation in Louisville on 17 October, 1942. He never recovered from this operation and realizing that he was growing weaker returned for a check-up in July, 1943, only to be informed that he had cancer of the stomach and had only a few months to live. On 27 October, 1943, Michael died and was buried in the College cemetery. In a long article in the Memorial Edition of The Sentinel (18:2), Prof. Al Lesousky paid tribute to Michael, detailing his life and accomplishments and ended it with these words: "We may forget that Father Michael was a great scholar and an outstanding athlete, that he was a great president and an excellent teacher, that he was a noted linguist and a brilliant conversationalist, but we can never forget that he was ever preeminently the priest of God. . . . and ever a Christian gentleman." Available at: https://www.theinquiry.ca/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Frieburger-Francis-Frank.pdf (Accessed: 1 March 2025).

  
  

• Sources

  [S297] Census - ON, Waterloo, Preston - 1881, Page 3. [S2208] Census - ON, Waterloo, Hespeler - 1891, Section 1 Page 7.

  
  

• Event Map

  Born - 18 Aug 1872 - Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Residence - 1881 - Preston (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Occupation - Student - 1891 - Hespeler (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Residence - Roman Catholic - 1891 - Hespeler (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Died - 10 Nov 1943 - Lebanon, Marion, Kentucky, United States Buried - - Saint Charles Cemetery, Saint Mary, Marion, Kentucky, United States  = Link to Google Earth